Valsecchi primed for Lotus departure

Davide Valsecchi expects to leave Lotus and is keen on securing a move to IndyCar as he isn't prepared to spend another season as a reserve driver.

Having joined Lotus at the start of 2013 - fresh from winning the GP2 championship - Valsecchi was overlooked in favour of Heikki Kovalainen for the final two races of last year when Kimi Raikkonen needed replacing. Lotus has yet to announce its reserve driver for 2014 - with Marco Sorensen tipped to join the team - but has seen a reshuffle at management level with Patrick Louis resigning as CEO and being replaced by Matthew Carter.

In an interview with F1Passion.it Valsecchi said he doesn't expect to stay at Lotus but revealed he has been contacted by Louis who wants to speak to him in person. Asked what he expects from the meeting, Valsecchi replied: "I really don't know.

"Maybe he wants to wish me a happy new year, or tell me that they hired Sorensen, or that he is resigning. I don't have expectations; we'll certainly have a good chat. If they were to offer me a job like that of last year, not to race, then I'd prefer to stay at home and help with my father's company, Ediltecnica. I'm not interested in Formula One just to comment about it on TV. I prefer to race."

As well as revealing that he hasn't yet been paid by Lotus and feels the team made a mistake choosing Kovalainen over him, Valsecchi said his main target for 2014 was now to secure a move to IndyCar.

"I have no news regarding my commitment to the sport at the moment. I'm not able to anticipate anything… For sure, if someone were to call me to race without asking me for money, I'd be ready to do it right away, but I'm not too worried about the situation. And I won't stop exerting myself to have a steering wheel in hand soon. In the meantime, I don't conceal my desire to get into IndyCar. There is someone who gave me a hand, although in the U.S. I'm not as famous as here in Europe, where my achievements in GP2 are well known."